Adjustable clothes dryers



Jan. 14, 1969 A. LEO 3,421,633

ADJUSTABLE CLOTHES DRYERS Filed March 21, 1967 Sheet of 2 Angld Law I NVENTOR.

Jan. 14, 1969 A. LEO 3,421,633

ADJUSTABLE CLOTHES DRYERS Filed March 21, 1967 Angeli: LEE:

INVENTOR.

Q JW

United States Patent 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The clothes line herein is of the portable type that may be assembled and disassembled quickly and is particularly designed for uses on the rear porches of apartment houses and house trailers.

The clothes dry is comprised of a bracket that is mountable on the wall. The bracket has a female fiat socket extending outwardly of its outer surface adaptable to receive a flat stock portion of a vertical bracket, upon which is mounted a horizontal flat stock member at right angles thereto, appearing in the shape of a T on its side. Moveably mounted on the horizontal member, there is a pipe receiving sleeve which may be rotated thereon so that the pipe may be parallel to, perpendicular to, or even diagonally directed to the back of the bracket. The pipe receiving member is not only moveably mounted upon the horizontal member of the bracket, but is also removably mounted thereupon. An oversized sleeve is mounted upon the pipe upon which a hook is moveably engaged for receiving the ropes of the clothes dryer. There is also available a strut-type mounting fiat bracket for maintaining the T bracket in a secured position.

There are several patents to various inventors in the aforesaid classes of invention which attempt to disassemble clothes lines so that they will not be cluttering up an area by presenting an untidy and unpleasant appearance. Concepts of the prior art are such that the methods of disassembly are both burdensome and, insofar as manufacture of the product is concerned, expensive to the consumer.

It is an object of the within invention to provide a clothes dryer that may be adjustable to the type of surfaces upon which it is mounted.

It is an additional object of the within invention to provide a clothes dryer that is portable in nature and may quickly and easily be disassembled or assembled.

It is yet a further object of the within invention to provide a clothes dryer that is adaptable for use upon apartment houses, mobile homes and the like.

It is still an additional object to provide a clothes dryer of the type for outside use that is simple in construction and low in the cost of manufacture.

These and other objects of the invention may be more readily ascertained by reference to the detailed description of the invention, in which the drawings and the specifications are hereinafter described.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a top elevational view showing a set of brackets and the pipes of the clothes dryer in operative and closed position, being mounted on a common wall.

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view of the bracket assembly in the position shown at 13 in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a section of the bracket assembly taken along line 33 of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of the bracket and a portion of the clothes line assembly mounted on a circular post.

FIGURE 5 is an exploded perspective view of the bracket assembly disassembled with dotted lines showing 3,421,633 Patented Jan. 14, 1969 the locus of the bracket as it is placed into engagement with the lower assembly fixed portion.

FIGURE 6 is a top elevational view showing clothes line assemblies mounted on the sides of a house trailer.

FIGURE 7 is a side elevational view showing the same clothes line assembly at the bottom of FIGURE 6 mounted on a house trailer.

FIGURE 8 is a side elevational view of a tool for pushing out or pulling in the clothes line.

FIGURE 9 is an end view of the retaining spring clamps of FIGURE 1.

In FIGURES 1 and 5 a wall 26 has mounted thereon a base bracket 17. The base bracket 17 has screw hole openings 20. There is one opening at each corner of the rectangular base bracket 17 for engaging wood-type screws. There is a flat opening 21 which is of a dimension adapted to receive the fiat plate member 19. This opening 21 is formed by the holder portion 18 as can be seen in the view of FIGURE 5. The bracket assembly that supports the clothes line pipe comprises two vertical members 5 and 19. In the embodiment shown, the bracket is T shaped and is so mounted that the top of the T is vertical and the bottom portion of the T becomes horizontal. The lower member 19, as stated, is adapted to fit in a drawer like fashion into the slot 18. The surface of 19 which faces the viewer of FIGURE 5 is in contact to the rear of the surface of 18 while the rear of surface 19 as it faces the viewer in FIGURE 5 is in contact with the front surface of the base bracket 17 In order to maintain the permanency of the support, there is mounted in an opening in the surface of the holder portion 18 of bracket 17, a thumb-screw which locks the surface of 19 rigidly into position. The thumb-screw 8 is the type that may be hand tightened. The screw 7 in the pipe support sleeve 4 is of the same type. The horizontal portion of the T bracket 5 and 19 is designated by the numeral 22. Mounted upon the surface of the horizontal plate 22 is the sleeve pipe support 4. The sleeve 4 is cylindrical and hollow and is of a dimension adapted to receive the rope supporting pipe 3. The rope supporting pipe 3 can be removed from the sleeve 4 by releasing the pressure of the hand operated set bolt or screw 7. The sleeve 4 is rotatably mounted on the surface of the horizontal member 22. An axle bolt 6 passes through a flange to the rear of the sleeve 4 as can be seen in the view of FIGURE 2 and also passes through the plate 22. Sleeve 4 may be rotated on the axis of the axle bolt 6.

There is an assembly parallel to the wall 26 in FIGURE 1 which is to the right side of the FIGURE 1 and designated as 14, while there is also an assembly which is perpendicular to the wall 26 and designated as 13. This demonstrates how the assembly of the sleeve 4 may rotate on the axis of the axle bolt 6 from operative to inoperative position. The thumb-screw 8 looks the sleeve 4 into desired position. It may be released so that the sleeve 4 may rotate on the axis of the bolt assembly 6. The thumb-screw 8 is threaded into an opening near the end of the plate 22 and engages threads within the bottom of the sleeve 4. This can be seen clearly in the view of FIG- URE 3 which is a cross-section of FIGURE 2, taken along line 33.

A unique arrangement for supporting the rope 1 is mounted on the pipe 3. An oversized ring 15 or swivel has a hook 9 mounted through an opening therein. The hook 9 extends through an opening in the sliding swivel 15. It has a flat head (not shown) which is larger than the opening and prevents it from falling out. Since the swivel 15 is of a larger cross-section than the pipe 3, there is ample room for the head and room for the swivel 15 to slide along the pipe 3. The rope 1 is tied by the knot 2 to the hook 9 in a conventional manner. In order to prevent the swivel 15 from sliding off the end of the pipe 3, there is a cotter pin 16 which is inserted through an opening near the end of the pipe 3, and the cotter pin 16 has flanges on both ends bowing outwardly from the opening in the pipe 3 so that the cotter pin 16 acts as a stop abutment and prevents the swivels 15 from sliding over the end of the pipe 3.

In order to eliminate moisture, there is a vent 12 which actually is an opening in various places on the pipe so that any moisture that might accumulate from the wet clothes or inclement weather can drain from the pipe.

In FIGURE 1 when the clothes line is not being used, it is rotated so that the pipe 3 is parallel to the wall 26 as at 14. In order to maintain it in a rigid position, it is snapped into the spring clamp 11. The clamp 11 may be bifurcated or may be as shown in FIGURE 9 having two spring members with arms permitting the pipe to be snapped into position between the members. The arms 11 are screwed to the wall 26. A pipe 3 is shown in position snapped into place between the spring arms 11 in FIG- URE 9.

The same basic assembly may be used without the base bracket 17. I

Demonstration of the mounting of the clothes line assembly without the base bracket 17 is shown in the view of FIGURE 4. FIGURE 4 shows a circular type post 10. However, the unit may be adapted to a fiat surface or a rectangular cross-section type of post. In this instance, the bracket assembly and 19 is permanently secured to the post 10. In addition, there is available a strut bracket 23. Bracket 23 is a fiat sheet metal piece that circumscribes the pipe 3 at the proximate surface of the sleeve 4 where the pipe 3 enters within sleeve 4. It is moveably mounted on pipe 3 since its circular opening which circumscribes pipe 3 is oversized. It therefore can be attached to the post as shown in FIGURE 4 which indicates a horizontal position, or it may be attached diagonally either below or above pipe 3, depending upon the surface of the post 10. The sheet metal strut 23 has openings therein wherein the wood-screw bolts 24 are engaged and secure the strut 23 to the post 10.

In certain circumstances the clothes dryer may be at heights where the person cannot walk out thereunder, such as on the rear of an apartment building. In this instance, there is available a tool which is shown in FIG- URE 8. The tool comprises a rod having a handle or ring portion 27 and a shank portion 29. At the end of the shank portion 29 there is a perpendicular end 28. The user merely places the tool over the hook 9 and sliding swivel 15 section of the rope assembly and pulls the swivel and hook assembly in towards where he is standing.

As stated earlier in the specification, the clothes dryer has been designed particularly for attachment to house trailers and the like. FIGURES 6 and 7 disclose various ways that the clothes line assembly may be attached to a house trailer. FIGURE 6 shows the arrangement looking down on the roof of the house trailer 'wherein there are clothes lines mounted on each side of the house trailer.

FIGURE 7 shows the side assembly of the clothes line which is mounted on the lower side of the house trailer as seen in the view of FIGURE 6. The house trailer is indicated by numeral 25. All other numerals are similar to those stated. The clothes line 1 is connected to the sliding swivel 15 by means of the hook 9. Pipe 3 extends outwardly from the bracket 5. Cotter pin stops 16 are at each end of the pipe to prevent the swivel 15 from sliding therefrom.

I claim:

1. A clothes dryer assembly having a T-shaped bracket, means for fastening the top of the said T to a vertical supporting wall or the like, the bottom member of said T being of flat stock and being in a horizontal plane, rotatable means mounted upon said T member in the horizontal plane for receiving and supporting a pipe, means upon said pipe for supporting hooks, and ropes being fastened to said hooks, said means upon said pipes being an oversized tubular shaped swivel, openings in said swivel for receiving said hooks, said hooks having flanges at the straight ends thereof to prevent the hooks from passing through said openings in said swivel, said supporting means having a locking means, said locking means for securing said supporting means to the T member so that it will not rotate thereon.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,073,230 9/1913 Gould 211-119.1 XR 2,553,980 5/1951 Ostrander r248307 XR 2,645,358 7/1953 Moore 21 1-1l9.1 XR 2,887,233 5/1959 Bybee 21 1119.1 XR 2,950,823 8/1960 Woidka 211-119.1

ROY D. FRAZIER, Primary Examiner.

R. D. KRAUS, Assistant Examiner. 

